Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Black Hills Co. (NYSE:BKH) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $62.02 and last traded at $62.01, with a volume of 200067 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKH. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Black Hills from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Black Hills from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.00.

Black Hills Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.69.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. Black Hills had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The firm had revenue of $402.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Black Hills Co. will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Black Hills Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Black Hills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.04%.

Institutional Trading of Black Hills

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Black Hills during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Black Hills during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Black Hills in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Black Hills during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Black Hills by 77.2% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. 86.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Black Hills

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates in two segments: Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities. The Electric Utilities segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 222,000 electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and owns and operates 1,394 megawatts of generation capacity and 9,106 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines.